Why did the Senate and House cave on the bailout?

[kaygore]

Does anyone have any verified answers on this?

I was very disappointed in Obama and Jim Webb.

[kenny blankenship]

1. So the banks will stay open -hopefully- through the elections

The stated purposes of the bailout are quite different, but that is why IMO the Democrats bought the bailout plan in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

[blues90]

2. because the corporatations and our own government are one

in the same. No matter how much they stand there and tell us they are for the people where is the proof in this? They say for the people meaning the corporations are the people not you or me the ones who they are supposed to work for and the ones who pay their salary and medical and far too many vacations.

[leftofthedial]

3. king george "asked" them nicely

and Henry Paulson is such a pillar of integrity that they just couldn't say no. And that bald asshole who screams on CNBC made it clear that the world was ending.

[ben_meyers]

4. Wooden Arrows for Oregon and tuna canning for Pelosi.

Vote the Bastards Out!!! every last crooked one of them.

That includes, as the New York Post pointed out, millions in tax breaks and related pork for kids' wooden arrows, Puerto Rican rum producers, auto race tracks, and corporations operating in American Samoa. (The likely explanation for the latter: StarKist has a large tuna-canning operation in American Samoa. And StarKist's parent company happens to be located in the district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10057618-54.html

In what respect, Charlie?

[depakid]

5. The arrow deal is a bad rap

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/an_oregon_arrow_maker_suffers.html

Another victim of mob psychology.

[ben_meyers]

7. If it was any good it should have been stand alone

not tacked on to this bill. That's the whole point of peoples outrage.

[depakid]

9. That's how politics works

Savvy lawmakers attach things to bills that have merit (or that don't) all the time- when not enough people care (or the priorities aren't there) to get them passed on their own.

If we lived in a more rational and more perfect world, I'd agree with you.

Since we don't, I'm glad that this got passed along with mental health parity.

[TexasObserver]

6. Because Bush & his administration convinced them the Great Depression II would come if they didn't

I am not disappointed in Webb or Obama. Each senator and each rep is free to assess what his or her constituency wants, and I defer to that concept. Also, Obama is trying to get elected president, so he gets a double exception. I trust he is doing what he thinks he needs to do to win. Since it's his candidacy, I'm fine with it. I want him to win a lot more than I care about the bailout.

[Hidden Stillness]

8. Appearance of Thousands of Financial-Industry Lobbyists on Capitol Hill That Night

Sen. Bernie Sanders gave a clue this past Wednesday night, during a speech on the Senate floor, referring to the sudden appearance of THOUSANDS of corporate lobbyists swarming all over the Capitol Building just that very day (after the first bailout was voted down), from the Chamber of Commerce, the Amercian Bankers' Association, and the Business Roundtable, all pushing for this to pass, and all offering bribes-that-aren't-called-bribes. Huge amounts of "pork" and earmark funding, called "sweeteners" by a media that sudeenly did not criticize the parctice, were added, to get legislators to vote for it. "The little people," of course, have no paid lobbyists, and cannot fly off to the Capitol at a moment's notice to pressure people. This is not the first, or the last, time for this. I am also very disappointed by the actions of Obama and Webb--and Dodd, Leahy, Whitehouse, Boxer, Sherrod Brown, other shocks--and proud of Sanders, Dorgan, Debbie Stabenow of all people, etc.

[fla nocount]

10. Verified? Naw, they're not talking.

Maybe they developed a taste for the shit they were being fed. Maybe they were offered a piece of the action. Maybe they know something that we don't like the Death Star is coming to annihilate the planet next year. Maybe they were responding to DU'ers worried about their 401K's.

A better question would be why would some of the others like Kucinich vote against it. What makes those who aren't and cannot be owned...different?

[MadrasT]

11. Shock Doctrine. nt

[stray cat]

12. Maybe they thought it needed to be done?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. Priority #1 To ensure their cash flow from the lobbyists.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."

"I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have some legislatures that bring in higher prices than any in the world."

"No one's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."

Mark Twain